On the Whistle: Arsenal 2-2 Bayern - “A lot of work to do…”

Hello guys, full-time in London, Arsenal 2, Bayern Munich 2. I'm just still in Philadelphia, I'm heading home shortly, about to go off to the airport. But I watched the game in the Misconduct Tavern with the Arsenal-Philly contingent, had a great time. I suppose I should start by saying, obviously I think there's a bit of disappointment around and about, about the fact that we've not won the home leg. And I do think it's important to contextualise that and say, we've come a long way from the games where we'd get absolutely battered against the likes of Bayern. It's our first time back at this stage of the Champions League and we're feeling disappointed about a 2-2 draw. Now, that said, I understand the disappointment because I think going in there was a lot of talk about the crowd, obviously no away fans for Bayern, that felt like a significant advantage. And frankly, I think the Premier League is such a strong league and Bayern are a team that's had problems this season. But what they are is a team with plenty of Champions League experience, an experience at the sharp end, the latter stages. And I think we've seen this season, let's say in the Porto tie, how valuable that can be. If I'm being honest, I think we didn't show enough respect to Bayern's attacking players. I think what happens in the Champions League that's different maybe from the Premier League is that if you make a single mistake at the back, you can be punished. Look at that front line, you know, Gnabry, Musiala, Kane, Sané. We took chances, we went one-on-one, we pressed high and we left them opportunities on the break. And they're good enough to punish you, even if they're having a bad season, even if they're not in the best of form, they have the quality. And I don't think we paid that front line enough respect. It's really well put together. You've got players with real pace running behind. You've got a forward in Harry Kane who, although none of us enjoy saying it, is very intelligent, dropping deep, can play some lovely passes between the lines. It's a good formula. And we made a couple of lax errors at the back and they absolutely took advantage. To go back to the starting line-up, I was very surprised that Jakob Kivio played at left-back. I know he's done well until now, but struggled a bit in the Man City game. I think that showed that maybe this very highest level, in that position, he's not quite there yet. I would have started Tomi Yasu. I can only assume Tomi Yasu's not fully fit because I can't make sense of him not playing otherwise. And we saw Kivio struggle, particularly against Sané in that early period. We did get the goal though, to go ahead. Lovely finish from Makiya Saka, curling it into the far corner of the net. I'll try and drop in a little clip I took of the celebrations in Philadelphia. And things looked really good. We were pushing on, we were putting them under pressure. But I think we tried to win the game too early. I think we went for it too much in a 180-minute tie. You know, we tried to kill it off in this first leg and we took chances doing that. And it left us exposed. There were errors, let's say, on that equalising goal. Big errors. I think David Rye probably comes too high. I think Gabriel takes a bit of a chance in possession. It's not a good ball into Kivio. Kivio can't bring it under control. Someone runs off the back of Declan Rice. And it ends with Serge Gnabry putting the ball in the net. I mean, if you were going to pick two players purely on the narrative to score, it probably would have been Serge Gnabry and Harry Kane. And that's what we got. That penalty, of course, coming after Sané left Kivio for dead. You know, that was the moment really where I sort of thought, well, he's coming off at half-time because this is unsustainable. I was a bit surprised that Zinchenko came on. As I said, I thought Tommy Astley was probably more suited to it. But by that point, we were chasing a goal. So what do you do? You bring on the guy who lends the most to your team in possession, that is Zinchenko. I think he helped us fare a bit better in the midfield battle, helping out Jorginho and Rice, who I think struggled a bit against Gretzka. And eventually we get an equalising goal, two substitutes combining. Gabriel Jesus, brilliant footwork, lays it off. And there's Leandro Trossard. 13 for the season now. The best finisher in the squad, for me, by some distance. So clinical when opportunities present themselves. I know he didn't have the best all-round game. Had one moment where he let the ball go under his foot, that can happen. But there's no-one else I'd rather see a ball drop to in the penalty area in this Arsenal squad. Maybe that's a bit of a problem. I think you want to have more reliable finishers in your team. I think we create chances and we've got players who can score goals. But do we have that many who are clinical, who a high percentage of their shots end up in the back of the net? Trossard's right up there, but maybe not so others. I'll have to look into the stats for that. I've got to talk about the penalty, of course, or not, for Bukai Saka. It looked it to me, I've got to say. I was surprised it wasn't given, surprised there wasn't more delay. The referee couldn't wait to get off that pitch, could he? I thought it was a spot kick. But, and I can't speak for this because I've not seen all the clips yet, I was watching it in a bar. I gather Thomas Tucker was very unhappy because he feels that Bayern should have had a penalty for a handball by Gabriel. I think David Rayer took a goal kick, Gabriel didn't realise and picked the ball up. I'm sorry, I know it's not intentional, I know it's schoolboy, but if that's what happened, that should have been a penalty. So I guess we'll call it even. And I know there are people who say Saka made the most of it, or he dived, or he looked for the penalty. I've only seen one replay, difficult for me to comment, but he looked it to me in real time. And Neuer, he flies out of his goal, and I think when you do that, you're always in trouble. I'm going to leave it there. It leaves us with a lot of work to do. Three all in Madrid as well, between City and Real. But City obviously, coming back to the Etihad, will fancy themselves there. We've got a huge job on in Munich. That Trostad goal is so important. It basically makes this a one-off game. If we go there and win, we're through. But no home advantage to take with us. And that's obviously disappointing. I'm really intrigued to see how, if at all, this affects the group ahead of Sunday. Because that's a big game in the Premier League that we can't afford to drop points in either. These games are taxing, they are draining, they take a lot of focus and a lot of energy. And we need to not allow that to be the case and be at our best on Sunday. To beat Aston Villa and Unai Emery. I'll leave it there for now, guys. Glad you're all safe at the Emirates. I know there's some scary news reports around, but glad everyone's okay. And I'll speak to you when I'm back in the UK. All right, guys. Take care. Bye-bye.